Too bad I’m at work! But so is almost everyone.
MB is back, yay! He flew in Wednesday afternoon, and his time has been all screwy. That day he was wracked with jet lag and allergies, so he went to bed “early” (before midnight). But last night he stayed up all night writing. Crazy guy.
My new – well, semi-new – job is going well. Right now my boss wants me to concentrate on building an internal team site using SharePoint. SharePoint’s not the greatest, but it’s fun all the same. He knows I’m learning as I’m going, so understands that it will take some time for me to make my way it through it, and that if any of his requirements are too complex, I can get training or tech support.
He actually took the time to do a great mock-up in PowerPoint of how he wants the site to be. I took his mock-ups and did a navigation map to keep everything straight in my head, as well as a project plan so that neither of us would forget any details, and to come up with some sort of timeline. I had estimated early to mid July for launch, but he is being more conservative and thinking August.
Wow, it’s great to have a boss who 1) has realistic expectations, 2) knows exactly what he wants, and 2) values my skills. At my old job, I loved working on our website, but my old boss didn’t think it was very important (yet expected it to somehow magically get done) and thought I should be doing “better” things.
My web design class is helping with this. Although we’re using different programs – Dreamweaver and Photoshop – practicing with those helps get my brain rewired to understand those kinds of tools better. Also, it’s good to have basic web design knowledge, from the front and back ends.
Still, the class is pretty boring. He mostly just walks us through examples, and occasionally tasks us with actually creating things. And tonight we have our makeup class for the first one he missed – on a Friday night! But at least we’re supposed to just use most of that time to work on our final projects. He can’t make next Wednesday either, so our makeup class is on Saturday. Ah well.
So I’ve had this dry cough for about three weeks now. Back in late May I caught a little cold, and today I’m still coughing, though far less then even a couple of days ago. Normally I’d just ignore it – I always have a long drawn-out cough after I’m sick – but MB was all concerned so I went to the doctor on Wednesday.
First off, she kept me waiting for an hour. My appointment was at 11:30 but she didn’t see me till 12:30. I didn’t make a stink. At about 12 I went up to the receptionist and said I was sorry but I’d have to reschedule since I had to get back to work. That seemed to hurry things up a little. Who knows how long I’d have waited if I hadn’t said anything.
My doctor’s diagnosis? That I have asthma induced by my cold. Some people, she said, only have asthma when they get sick, and take a long time to get well. It’s true my coughs usually last a really long time after I have a cold, but I don’t have any of the other symptoms for asthma. No wheezing, no shortness of breath, no constriction in my chest. I run with my no problem, even when I’m sick.
Or it may be allergies, she said. She gave me a bunch of allergy medicine, as well as an inhaler. I really don’t want to take either. I don’t feel like I have allergies, and I don’t think I have asthma. So what I’ve been doing is taking a vitamin C every day, as well as these Chinese licorice tables which have worked in the past. I *think* my cough is better.
I hate taking medicine when I don’t have to. A couple of months ago I went to see a dermatologist about the constant breakouts on my chin. And by “constant,” I really mean once a month or so. It’s not like I have acne. And yet she wanted to give me oral antibiotics.
Antibiotics for cosmetic reasons? I declined and went for the topical stuff instead, which has been working just fine.
I don’t get these doctors wanting to shove pills down my throat every two seconds. When I go, I want to hear, “It’s not a big deal, don’t worry about it.” I’m not looking for a pill to fix everything. But maybe I’m the exception.
Yesterday I had yet another annoying conversation with my mother. She’s obsessed with the idea of MB and my buying a condo or whatever, which we’re just not interested in right now. Our rent is so cheap between the two of us, and buying a condo in Manhattan would be ridiculously expensive and would tie us down. The last thing I want to be is tied down to a job or geography.
I’ve sung this song before, but I don’t want to go back to that part of my life before my divorce, bound by familial and financial obligations. Settled down. Tied down. I don’t want to worry about a mortgage right now.
I’ve explained that we may not always want to live in New York, and every time I say it, my mother acts like it’s news.
Drives me crazy.